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From: Isaiah 58:1-9a

Misguided Fasting Denounced

(Thus says the LORD God),
[1] “Cry aloud, spare not,
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
[2] Yet they seek me daily,
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.
[3] ‘Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
[4] Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
[5] Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a rush,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the LORD?

[6] “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
[7] Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
[8] Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you,
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
[9a] Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am.”

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Commentary:

58:1-14. This new denunciation, very much in the style of this part of the book,
criticizes fasting done in the wrong spirit; it is uncompromising (vv. 1-7) but it
ends with words of encouragement. The Lord cannot go along with the hypocrisy
of a purely external religion — with people going through the motions of religious
observance while being unjust in their dealings with others and ignoring those in
need. Those who act in this way cannot know much about God this is why the
prophet feels compelled to speak out and use every opportunity to correct them.

“They seek me daily” (v. 2), that is, they are keen to hear the oracles spoken by
the prophets, to learn what God is saying, but they do out act on them — which
shows that they do not really know what religion is all about. Conversion to God
is not a matter of engaging in many external acts of worship and fasting, while
being unjust, exploiting workers and neglecting the poor. It is not surprising that
God ignores fasts if those who perform them commit sins against justice and
charity (vv. 3-6). In this poem different people’s voices are heard at different points:
first God tells the prophet to keep on condemning hypocrisy (vv. 1-2); then men
speak, complaining that God ignores their fasting (v. 3) and at the end God tea-
ches and reproaches: he will have nothing to do with the hypocrisy of those who
perform fasts but behave wickedly (vv. 4-7); whereas he will certainly listen to pra-
yers if they are accompanied by acts of justice and charity (vv. 8-14).

The works of mercy recommended in this oracle are echoed in Jesus’ discourse
on the Last Judgment in Matthew 25:23-45. Christian spirituality has always
stressed that love of neighbor and works of mercy are clear proof of a person’s
love of God and are a touchstone of true religion, for “...works of mercy are proof
of a truly holy life” (Rabanus Maurus, recorded by St Thomas Aquinas in the “Ca-
tena Aurea”). And St Leo the Great taught: “Let each of the faithful examine his
own conscience, seeking out his deepest desires; if he finds the fruits of love with-
in his soul, he will know that God is with him, and he should strive even harder to
be worthy of so great a guest, being ever more generous in his works of mercy”
(”Sermones”, 48, 3).

58:1. “Cry out, spare not”: these words, addressed to the prophet to have him de-
nounce sins, are a call to all whose responsibility it is to guide souls: they should
work diligently and without pause. And, in times of difficulties or special need or
upheaval, pastors as well as faithful would do well to remember this message,
seeking guidance and praying more intensely.

“If you feel no devotion and your heart is dry, continue to pray: call and cry with-
out ceasing until your prayer wins a scrap or drop of grace to restore you; you
need Me; I do not need you” (Thomas a Kempis, “De Imitatione Christi”, 12, 3).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.